Elegance has been fully restored to this Edwardian home

Sophisticated furnishings, rich colours and contemporary pieces have restored this Edwardian home to its former glory.

HOME PROFILE

WHO LIVES HERE

Caitlin Levene, an author and director of a psychometric software company, and her husband George Foulgham, a re-recording mixer for films and TV.

THE PROPERTY

An Edwardian, three- bedroom, semi-detached house in Palmers Green, London

PRICE

£535,000

MONEY SPENT

£105,000

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

WHAT IT'S WORTH NOW

£750,000

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

Most Popular

Caitlin and George moved from a new-build in Hemel Hempstead, where they had lived for the previous 13 years, to this spacious Edwardian semi-detached in Palmers Green, north London. 'Although it was practical, we never really loved our previous house. It was lacking in character and atmosphere,' Caitlin explains. 'I love the light and space – and the quirks – of period homes, and when I started researching property sites online, I found that Palmers Green was chock-a-block with Edwardian houses. When we found this house, the move just seemed right for us.'

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

Despite having been occupied by tenants for a number of years, the property was in good condition overall. 'And probably because it had been owned by a landlord, not too much about it had been changed – so there was still the wonderful stained glass and original tiles in the hallway, and lovely deep skirting boards throughout,'Caitlin recalls. 'Although there was a rather draughty hole in the bedroom wall where the fireplace had been removed!'

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

She and George were happy to retain the existing layout but they decided to draft in help with the decor. 'I'm no good with colour; I just don't have that eye,' Caitlin admits. Instead, she asked interior designer Debra Moore to come up with a scheme. 'I didn't want it to look like an Edwardian museum, yet I didn't want to supplant all the period features with modern pieces,' says Caitlin. 'My brief to Debbie was to create a synergy between old and new, with surprising colours and details that reflect our personalities.'

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

The kitchen/dining room is the highlight of the house. Once a drab space, the eating and entertaining area has been transformed with opulent wallpaper, smart furnishings and careful restoration of the original pine French doors. There's a more relaxed, farmhouse feel in the kitchen, which is slightly sunken to create a self-contained zone within the larger room. 'The pine shelving around the window was already here. We added the butler's sink beneath: it's my favourite piece,' says Caitlin.

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

Most Popular

With no structural work needed, the renovation was a simple – if messy – job. 'We did the bathroom first, then we got the builders and decorators back to do the kitchen and the rest of the house,' explains Caitlin. 'It took five months in total, during which George and I slept in the dining room on an inflatable mattress, surrounded by rails of clothes. Funnily enough, our 23-year-old son Edan moved back during those months, so he ended up sleeping on the library floor. It was freezing as we'd decided to change all the radiators and had no heating, but we had a lot of fun!' Once the work was complete, the good times began.

PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID WOOLLEY

'For Christmas, my brother and his family are coming and I can't wait,' says Caitlin. 'We didn't socialise much in our last house because we didn't really feel comfortable there. But now we love to have parties and long meals where we'll sit at the dining table with friends and talk for hours. It's as though we're suddenly wearing the right clothes; this house says how we feel about ourselves and our lives.' So, any Christmas wishes? 'Just for more happy years in the home we love…'